This book fulfills my wish to bring awareness, hope, at times humor, and an understanding of the challenges we all face in life; that everyone has a story just as funny or sad as yours or mine. Like many others, I have faced and survived the many challenges life has thrown at me (abandonment, child abuse, discrimination, divorce, raising children without role models, health issues, different careers, sexual harassment, and rejection). I believe I have emerged a better person and now seek to share my lessons of life. One should not allow life to pull the rug out from under them. Through faith and perseverance, we can all step out of the shadows of abuse, shame, pain and guilt, and step into the light where happiness and peace await.